ARTIST Ryan Williams longs for a time when things were slower, when people took the time to enjoy life, and had more patience and respect for others, life and their surroundings.
This desire is reflected in the pieces of his exhibition First Impressions.
Williams, 45, described himself as an “old soul” as he kept his work nostalgic.
“Back in time had a different feel to it. Now everything is ‘cringe’ (a slang youths used excessively to mean embarrassing or uncool). The youths have no love or passion. Everything is about right now.”
First Impressions was an ode to past impressionist artists who influenced him like Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro and Paul Gauguin. Williams said he was experimenting with the style as he still had a lot to learn, like getting shapes and textures right, but he was constantly improving.
[caption id="attachment_1148056" align="alignnone" width="1024"] An art piece View of Mount St Benedict by artist, Ryan Williams, hangs at the Horizons Art Gallery on Mucurapo Road, St James on April 3. - Photo by Faith Ayoung[/caption]
Though proficient in pencil, watercolours, acrylics, pastels and pen-and-ink he chose to use mostly oils for the 18 pieces of the exhibition. They were impressionistic takes on Caribbean seascapes, landscapes, culture, architecture and figures. He also included one abstract piece to add some variety.
He told Newsday impressionist art was his style for now as he enjoyed being able to use all his materials including his palette knife, various brushes and different types of paints. The technique allowed him to use vibrant and muted colours, different brushworks and lighting, and he was able to cover a lot of different subject matters.
He said he sometimes changed his style to remain relevant but he wanted to see how far he could push his skill. As a result, he may change or mix styles in the future.
[caption id="attachment_1148057" align="alignnone" width="708"] An abstract artpiece by artist Ryan Williams hangs at the Horizons Art Gallery on Mucurapo Road, St James, on April 3. - Photo by Faith Ayoung[/caption]
Once you cover all the basic styles, you could jump into anything you want. Maybe that’s what I want to do, cover all the bases, and I think I have so I could jump wherever I feel to jump.”
He said he usually took photos or people sent him images and he used whatever appealed to him in his art.
“The nice thing about the (impressionist) techniques is that you could take the most stupid shots and you can bring something out of it once you do the lighting and colour right.”
Despite the challenges of art supply costs, he diversifies his income through postcards and greeting cards which he sells to souvenir shops as well as a bit of graphic design, which was his profession before he turned to art full-time.
He has been a professional artist for over 20 years, continually influenced by his passion and persistence.
Mostly self-taught, Williams started to paint in secondary school. He said his home life was unplea
